The 5 Reasons Your Dog Won’t Lay Down:
Joint pain can be it difficult for your dog to get comfortable when laying down. Canine osteoarthritis may cause your canine to get uncomfortable when laying down, or it may cause the process of laying down to become painful.
Often, these dogs will shift around when they’re lying around. They may become stiff after lying down for some time and spend a lot of time pacing around.
Dogs may pant as a sign of pain, or they may groan or yelp when laying down. These are obvious signs of pain and warrant a trip to your vet. While arthritis can’t be treated, pain medication is available to help your dog deal with the symptoms.
Some dogs are more at risk of joint pain and arthritis than others. These include older dogs. Obese dogs and giant breed dogs are particularly prone to this issue.
Like people, older dogs can develop dementia as well. Cognitive decline is typical in older dogs, with dementia sometimes developing. Often, the earliest signs of dementia are changes in your dog’s sleep habits. This can include restlessness and incomplete sleep cycles. The dog’s sleep period may shorten, and they may get up more often before settling into sleep.
Other signs of dementia include confusion. Your dog may forget daily routines or get lost in places they frequent. The dog may not stick to any schedule like it used to.
More extreme symptoms of dementia include getting “stuck” in corners. The dog isn’t stuck but may “forget” that it can turn around to get out. They may wait at the wrong end of a familiar door, where the hinges are, instead of where the doorknob is.
Medications and special diet management plans exist to help reduce the damage and progression of these dementia symptoms, so make an appointment with your vet as soon as you notice.
If your dog suddenly doesn’t lay down, it can be a sign that they are in severe pain. When they lay down, they may feel pain and pressure in that one particular spot. Pancreatitis occurs when the pancreas suffers an inflammatory reaction, which can cause pain and discomfort.
A sure sign of pancreatitis is dogs assuming the “praying” position for an extended period. In other words, when the dog lays with their head and front legs down, but its butt stuck up in the air. This helps relieve pressure on the pancreas.
Nausea, diarrhea, lethargy, and decreased appetite are also common symptoms. Pancreatitis can be chronic or acute. Luckily, it is treatable with quick action.
Dogs with anxiety problems may have difficulty getting comfortable and laying down. They may lay down for a moment and then stand up after only a few minutes. Pacing may occur as well. Destructive behaviors like chewing and scratching may occur. These are natural ways for dogs to relieve their anxiety.
They may also bark randomly at seemingly nothing, pan, or shake when laying down.
Anxiety is a complicated diagnosis and often has many treatment options. Medication is available, but many dogs can relieve their anxiety through behavioral training.
Bloat is a severe and sudden disease that requires immediate treatment. When a dog gets bloat, its stomach fills with gas. It may twist, which can make the situation even more severe. The expanded stomach puts pressure on the other organs and the inner cavity. For this reason, dogs may be unable to get comfortable when lying around. Their stomach may become large and bloated, but this isn’t always the case.
Anxiety, like restlessness and pacing, is quite common. Usually, the dog will avoid laying down. Vomiting up new food and drink may occur, or the dog may attempt to vomit but cannot throw anything up.
Excessive drooling, pale gums, and weakness can occur as the disease progresses. Larger dogs are more prone to bloat, but any dog can develop it at any age. Bloat will lead to death unless it is treated with surgery. It is a medical emergency and needs to be addressed as soon as possible, does not get better on its own.
Heart disease can cause a dog to be more uncomfortable in general. It can affect a dog’s ability to breathe, becoming even more complicated when laying down. Dogs with severe heart disease may attempt to sleep standing up or sitting, as laying down can be highly uncomfortable.
Heart disease can be managed with medication and dietary changes. It isn’t curable, but it can be managed with some ease.
4 Reasons Why your Dog Won’t Lay Down
It’s never easy to accept that your dog is in pain. Every owner wants to see their furry friend jumping and playing to their heart’s content. Unfortunately, injuries and medical issues can create drastic changes in behavior.
Bodily pain can make it impossible for your pooch to lay down. They may choose to sit up or get into an awkward position to avoid it.
Issues like arthritis, hip dysplasia, and back pain are all common causes. They may also be experiencing internal ailments like gastrointestinal upsets, Lyme disease, or pancreatitis.
If you suspect that a medical issue may be the culprit, keep an eye out for additional symptoms.
You may notice changes in their eating habits, vomiting, diarrhea, and a host of other problems. Noticeably labored breathing or frantic chewing on one part of the body may be signs that you need to seek professional assistance as soon as possible.
The only solution to a pain problem is a trip to the vet. A professional veterinarian will be able to perform tests and diagnose the underlying cause of the problem. They may then be able to provide adequate treatment to help your dog heal.
It’s imperative that you seek help as soon as possible. A dog’s health can deteriorate quickly after an injury. This is especially true with senior dogs. Seek professional help and give your dog with some much-needed love and support.
This reason is less serious than intense pain but should still be addressed to prevent future problems from occurring. Some dogs won’t lay down because the floor is uncomfortable to them. There are a number of breeds that just aren’t built for sitting on unforgiving floors.
Dogs with thin coats and bony legs will find hard floors unpleasant.
Depending on the particular surface, it may be too cold or too hard on their bones. A dog’s joints are quite fragile as it is.
When they have thin skin and not a lot of hair, laying down on a solid floor can lead to pain and injury. You may even notice some slight redness on the surface of the skin.
The best way to resolve this issue is to provide them with something soft to lay on. You can invest in a dog bed. There are many options out there with memory foam that are specifically designed to soothe the joints.
Even something as simple as a soft towel will suffice for many dogs. Once they find a suitable spot that’s comfortable, they’ll likely stick with it.
Stress and anxiety can affect dogs just like it affects humans. Some dogs will go and hide to deal with their emotions while others will become energetic and difficult to calm down.
If your dog is not laying down, they may be going through a stressful situation. This is quite common among newly adopted dogs being introduced to a new home, dogs that just experienced a death in the family, or dogs that have experienced traumatic events in the past.
Dogs aren’t always capable of dealing with their emotions properly. They’re a lot more complex than most people think. They may be thinking about a million things at once.
An over-active brain will make it hard to relax, causing them to pace around the room. It’s important to find a solution for your dog as soon as possible. Too much stress can lead to major behavioral issues if it’s not dealt with properly.
The easiest way to solve this would be to address the stressor directly. However, that’s not always possible. In these types of situations, you’ll need to teach your dog calming techniques so that they have the power to overcome their feelings on their own.
One method is to teach them the “Settle Down” command.
To do this, attach a leash to their collar and place the end on the ground. Place your foot on top of the leash to prevent your dog from running away.
Make sure to keep some light slack to avoid injury. Tell them to “Settle Down” and position the leash in a way that forces them to lay down on the ground.
*Give your pup multiple breaks and provide plenty of rewards for positive reinforcement.
Sometimes, not wanting to lay down is simply a product of poor communication. While many people think that laying down is one of the first and easiest commands to learn, not every dog is going to understand the process.
Some owners find it difficult to move past the point of sitting. To overcome that hump, you need to be vigilant with your training.
Your dog should already know how to sit down. From this position, hold a treat in front of their nose and move it down to the floor while stating your command firmly. Continue this process until your pooch can perform it successfully at a distance and with distraction.
If that still doesn’t work, you can try training them on a raised platform where they’ll have to get down low to receive their treat.
Other methods include putting the treat underneath a chair that forces them to get, imitating what you want them to do, and training them when they’re tired after a long walk. If those tactics don’t work, you can contact a professional trainer for help.
If you notice that your dog isn’t laying down like they normally would, you need to take action as soon as possible. While not every situation is dire, it’s always a possibility.
Refusing to lay down for extended periods of time can lead to undue stress and major issues down the line. Keep an eye out on his or her behavior and contact your vet the moment that you notice extreme behavioral changes.
Three Reasons a Dog Won’t Lie Down
Three reasons dogs (especially little ones) don’t want to lie down that have little to do with the mechanics of training are:
So if you have a dog, young or old, who doesn’t want to lie down, first see a vet. #1 is the biggie. Seriously. Even young dogs can have painful joint conditions or other reasons why lying down is uncomfortable, especially in the “sphinx” position. And even when a pup will lie down, don’t overdo the “puppy pushups” thing. Let those little joints mature.
My Dog is Panting Pacing and Won’t Lie Down
When I first started training dogs, things that didn’t work were a mystery to me. Why couldn’t I reward Summer with chasing squirrels like everybody said I could? Why couldn’t I find that slot in the layout of her teeth where the experienced trainers said she should hold the dumbbell? And why, oh why, could I not teach Cricket to lie down on cue? At first, I saw everything through the lens of disobedience: my dogs were wrong when things didn’t work out. As I learned more about training, I realized these things were on me. There was something I was doing wrong. But often, I still couldn’t figure out what it was.
When your primary source of dog training information is the internet, you are at a disadvantage. (Ironic, eh, for a dog blogger to say that!) What I mean is that even the way you identify and describe a problem can lead would-be helpful people down the wrong path. When you are new, you don’t have the information to assess the problem to begin with. So you can’t describe it well.
Back in 2007, when I was just starting to train, the situation was worse, because fewer people posted videos of their dogs. They were starting to, but YouTube was populated mostly with dog training videos by professionals. The idea that a newbie could post a video and get helpful critique from an expert was just getting off the ground.
That’s why I missed the two obvious reasons why Cricket didn’t want to lie down in training. Many more experienced people would have caught them.